An honest reflection on how self-publishing is working for me, so far.
FOUND YOU by Sarah Jules has been live now for two weeks. Well, almost two weeks. It will be two weeks tomorrow evening. Self-publishing has been a massive learning curve for me. I stupidly thought that once FOUND YOU was released into the world, I’d be able to move on and focus on BOOK TWO. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case at all with self-publishing.
I have one word for you all… MARKETING. Two, if I say ‘fucking marketing’, which is what I really wanted to say. Getting your bookish baby out there into the big wide world so that people know about it is a bit of a nightmare. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fairly thrilled with how my sales are going so far. For the nosy people out there, I’ve sold 55 copies of the book and have a few readers through KU, which I think is pretty good going for a first-time, self-published author. Could it be better? Of course!
I think the main issue is that there is so much self-published crap out in the world, that people are scared to waste their time on a new self-pub author, and I totally understand that. I am 100% the same. I see books with barely any reviews and think, ‘Nope, not for me.’ It is something I’m working on, trust me. At the minute, I’m just trying to push the book out there. I don’t care about profits, I just want reviews (and hopefully decent ones), which is why my book is as cheap as chips.
So far I’ve been promoting the book on FB and Insta, with mixed successes. At the moment I’m doing a Halloween International Giveaway on my Instagram (@sarahjuleswriting) if you wish to check it out. A signed copy of the paperback of my book could be coming your way, if you do.
One annoying thing that is happening, which I anticipated, is that I’m getting a shit-tonne of cold messages about marketing my book, or giving me exposure on different platforms. Essentially, paid-for reviews. Now, if you read my previous blog post, you know how I feel about paid reviews. If you haven’t, here it is. Basically, paying for reviews is a load of shit unless you’re somebody with an authority in authorship. https://sarahjuleswriting.com/2022/08/16/should-authors-pay-for-reviews/ What annoys me is that they never get straight to the point. They always flirt around the subject first. I always offer a free eBook to them, just to see if they bite, and they never do. They want payment for a review and, funnily enough, they only give 5-stars. Which, as you know, is completely unethical and the reason a lot of readers don’t trust reviews.
So now I’m looking and different ways to market my book. Any ideas are greatly appreciated! I promise you’re in for a well-written, well-formatted and well-edited manuscript, not something thrown together in a week or so.
I downloaded TikTok to try out the dreaded BookTok, did a single upload, panicked and deleted it. I have now realised I’m old and unable to learn new technology.
FOUND YOU is only 99p in eBook format. AND FREE ON KU. What have you got to lose by giving it a try? Paperbacks are also as cheap as Amazon would let me price them. Like I said, I’m not in this for the money. Not at all. I want people to want to read my book and I can’t do that unless people give it a try!
I am so grateful to everybody out there who has given my debut book a try. And, I’m especially grateful to the people who took the time to leave such gorgeous reviews. I feel so incredibly lucky to have people in my life that will push for my success. Every person that has bought a copy, or told a friend about it, or posted about it online, it means the world to me.
Now, a quick favour, please tell your friends and family to give my book a try. If they love thrillers, anything by Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, or Gillian Flynn, then FOUND YOU will be right up their streets. I promise. If you’re able to, leave me a review too.
Thank you all for everything and happy reading!
Sarah Jules
Sarah Jules Writing Services 